Saturday, December 31, 2016

AIW Charge It To The Underhills Review

After
having their final show in Turner’s Hall, AIW were fortunately able to find a
new venue in the Cleveland area: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel High School. This would
be the new home for AIW.

1.)
Brian Myers vs. Tyson Dux: **1/2

Tyson
Dux was part of the Four-Way Main Event for the AIW Absolute Title back at Hell On Earth X, but he came up short in
that match, and now, he’s taking on Brian Myers in the opening match of this
show. This was a decent opener. I was expecting this match to be a tad better,
but then again, this was the opening match, so it doesn’t really matter that
much. There was some fine action in this match, and in the end, Tyson Dux
picked up the win.

The
story behind the Team Barely Legal name (if it wasn’t obvious) is that Alexia
Nicole & Jasmin are both under the age of 21, and because of this, Veda
Scott is their “legal council”. Before the match starts, Blanchard & The
Social Network get into some verbal spats with fans at ringside. To say that
this match was a trainwreck would be an understatement. This match was awful,
which was a little surprising, considering some of the talent involved. It had
a few bright spots, but this was mostly bad. The less said about this match,
the better. Team Barely Legal & Veda Scott would score the victory here.

After
the match, Tessa Blanchard was incensed that her team lost, and tries to go
after Veda Scott, but she needs to be held back by The Social Network. Scott
defeated Blanchard at an AIW Girls Night
Out event a month or two prior, so it looks like they were building towards
a rematch.

3.)
Colt Cabana vs. Louis Lyndon: ***1/4

Lyndon
starts this match off wearing a Grinch hat. I thought this was a solid match.
It wasn’t spectacular by any means, but both guys seemed to work well together,
and they produced some entertaining action. Eventually, Louis Lyndon was able
to defeat Colt Cabana via submission. Obviously this was a pretty significant
win for Lyndon. He is someone who deserves to get more bookings outside of his
usual promotions.

Speaking
of people who need to be booked in more places, The Beaver Boys are making their
AIW debuts here against Cheech & Colin Delaney, who are part of The League
of Justice. This was a pretty entertaining tag team affair. All four guys are
very solid wrestlers, so it should be no surprise that this was a good match.
It wasn’t spectacular, but for its spot on the card, it worked. After some good
back & forth action, The Beaver Boys were able to get the win in their AIW
debut. The two teams shook hands after the match.

5.)
AIW Intense Title - Davey Vega vs. Chris Sabin: ***

Davey
Vega won the AIW Intense Title back at Absolution
IX, and he’s already racked up several successful defenses since. Here,
he’s defending his title against Chris Sabin. Before the match starts, Sabin
cuts a promo where he puts down Cleveland Sports teams, saying that teams from
Detroit are better. In response, the fans chant “Bankrupt”, which was actually
a very good and very witty retort. This was a good match, but honestly, I was
expecting more, considering who was involved. The action was relatively solid
throughout the match, but again, I was left wanting more. Sabin tried a variety
of heel tactics and shortcuts, but it doesn’t work out for him, and in the end,
Vega wins after a sunset flip. Again, this match was fine, but as far as
expectations go, it might be the biggest disappointment of the show.

These
matches have become a commonplace in AIW, so it should come as no surprise that
we’re getting one here on AIW’s first show in their new venue. In an
interesting side note, Candice LeRae is sporting purple hair instead of her
usual blond hair here. Meanwhile, before the match began, Dick Justice
questions Joshua Singh as a potential illegal, which was very odd, to say the
least. This was a crazy spotfest, as you might have guessed, and it was pretty
entertaining throughout. All six participants had the chance to shine here. At
one point, Rickey Shane Page avoids a number of reverse-rana attempts, but
eventually gets hit by one from Dick Justice. That was easily the highlight of
the match. Despite that setback, Rickey Shane Page did come back to win the
match, as he gained some momentum heading into 2015.

7.)
AIW Absolute Title - Tim Donst vs. Tommy Mercer: N/R

As
a reminder, Tommy Mercer was formerly Crimson in TNA. Before the match starts, Donst
calls Mercer a “TNA reject” (via the ring announcer) and Mercer responds by
attacking Donst with the microphone. This match only lasts about three minutes
or so, as Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer get involved, which caused an immediate
DQ. The Forgotten then start to beat up Tim Donst, until The Jollyville
Fuck-Its run out to make the save! Donst then calls for a Six-Man Tag, and it
looks like the match is on!

The
Jollyville Fuck-Its are wrestling this match in their street clothes. This was
a fine Six-Man Tag. The Forgotten isolated Donst for a good part of the match.
After the babyface side started to fight back, The Forgotten use a chair, but
it wasn’t able to get them the win. Eventually, T-Money pounces Mercer over the
guardrail at ringside, and then pounces Jacobs, which allows the faces to get
the win after a series of moves on Whitmer. Again, this was a solid Six-Man
Tag. Nothing much else to say other than that.

9.)
Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston (with The Duke): ***3/4

These
two have a rivalry that’s spanned several years across multiple promotions, and
now they’re bringing this rivalry to AIW. This was a really good match, and
takes Match of the Night honors, in my opinion. This match was about as
hard-hitting as you would have expected, given who was involved. The action
from start to finish was intense, and the crowd was definitely into it. These
two never disappoint when they’re matched up against each other. After an
onslaught of offense, Kingston was finally able to put Hero away for the
victory.

After
the match, while Hero was getting helped to the back, The Duke cuts a promo
asking who’s going to take on Eddie Kingston next. He brings up how Kingston
destroyed Ethan Page in a Dog Collar Match the month prior at Hell On Earth X, which leads to Page
coming out with a chair to chase them off. Page said The Duke & Eddie Kingston
want to kill AIW, but it’s alive and well in their new home. He vows to hunt Kingston
down, and says he won’t rest until he beats Kingston.

10.)
Josh Alexander vs. Uhaa Nation: ***1/2

This
is an example of a match that I never knew that I wanted to see. I thought this
was a really good match. While it wasn’t the best match on this show, it was
certainly one of the better ones. There was a good amount of back & forth
action here, and as a whole, it was pretty entertaining. The match could have
been a little better, but still, this was a very good match. Alexander would
pick up the win here, in what ended up being Uhaa Nation’s final match in AIW
before he signed with WWE.

Ethan
Carter III was supposed to team up with Matt Cross here, but Ryan Nemeth/Briley
Pierce/Dolph Ziggler’s brother (whichever you want to use) interrupts the
proceedings. He says that he’s the official spokesperson for the Carter Family Estate
(including both Dixie Carter & Ethan Carter III, of course), and announced
that EC3 wasn’t able to compete to do recent bicep surgery. He then reveals
Zema Ion from TNA (a former AIW Absolute Champion) as EC3’s replacement.
Gargano & Prohibition go on the attack almost immediately to get things
going. This was a very good match. Similar to the match prior, it was probably
one of the better matches on the show. There was a ton of action from start to
finish, and as a whole, it was very entertaining to match. It might have been
up there in contention for Match of the Night if not for the finish, which saw
a referee distraction and a low blow lead to a victory for the Dudes On TV.

After
the match was over, the Dudes On TV continued the attack on Johnny Gargano
& Josh Prohibition. Zema Ion & Briley Pierce then held down Prohibition
as Cross cuts off parts of his former tag team partner’s beard. They then try
to use the ring bell on Gargano & Prohibition, but Alex Daniels makes the
save with a steel chair! After the heels had retreated, Prohibition takes the
mic, and cuts a promo calling Cross a narcissist. He says that their twenty-year
friendship is over, and adds that he, Gargano, & Daniels are willing to
fight the Dudes On TV anytime, anyplace. After the heels leave, the show closes
with a group promo from Gargano, Prohibition, & Daniels, where they talk
about Christmas and sing “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” with a young fan from
the front row to send the crowd home happy.

Overall: 7.0/10

This
was a relatively decent showing from AIW. While their was only one match that
was truly bad, most of the matches on the undercard were solid to good (but not
much more) until the final three matches, which really helped this shot out a
great deal. Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston was easily the best match on the
show, with Josh Alexander vs. Uhaa Nation and Dudes On TV vs. Johnny Gargano
& Josh Prohibition not that far behind. Those three matches are the only
ones that are worth checking out, but again, the rest of the undercard has a
lot of solid stuff on it as well.